For the protection of landowners, their land and their natural resources, an environmental impact assessment (EIA) will always be carried out first before any development on iTaukei land is carried out, says Ministry of iTaukei Affairs permanent secretary Savenaca Kaunisela.

Australia’s Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister for Foreign Affairs and to the Minister for Trade and Investment, Steven Ciobo arrives in Fiji tonight for a series of meetings which include the signing over an MOU to mark the country’s inclusion in the Seasonal Worker Program.

MOU signed to address health issues in schools

Fiji's Ministry of Education has signed a Memorandum Of Understanding with ACATA (Action for Children And the Aged)Trust Fiji to address health related issues.

This is after a survey was carried out by ACATA Trust Fiji for a period of two months in twenty one different schools around Fiji which had determined the very ‘unhealthy’ generation that Fiji has, Executive director of ACATA, Roshan Lal said.

He also added that this serious issue has contributed towards poor academic performances from students in class.

“The next step to this memorandum is creating and implementing of a health policy in all the schools,” Lal added.

He also said that a ‘training for trainers’ is also expected to be conducted in schools for teachers as part of a curriculum taught to the students.

Meanwhile, Ministry of Education’s Permanent Secretary, Dr Brij Lal said that this initiative is going to be fully supported by the ministry and is something that would be part of the school curriculum from here after.

Also present during the MOU signing was the Chief Medical Health of ACATA, Dr Bijend Prasad Ram.

“Parents should be more vigilant about what their children are consuming daily for breakfast, lunch and dinner because Fiji is a tropical country and we have a problem of parasites leaving in our bodies which has resulted in serious liver malfunctions from an early age,” Dr Ram said.

Lal also confirmed that this health initiative is being implemented in schools from today.